


a fractured world

by celestialfics



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gen, Implied Relationships, M/M, Minor Injuries, Rebuilding, Soft Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-06-19
Packaged: 2018-10-14 03:19:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10527738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celestialfics/pseuds/celestialfics
Summary: Yuu has a tendency for trouble. It's just good that he also has so many people that care about him.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noahfics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/noahfics/gifts).



> so this is pretty different from anything that i've ever done before...! this chapter is mostly an introduction of sorts.  
> this fic is a gift for noah bc i love him and he loves a lot of things i've incorporated into this fic, so i hope that he along with you guys will enjoy!!! i apologize for the kind of lame summary lol :/
> 
> i'm not certain on how many chapters there will be but i'm thinking around 5? that's definitely not set in stone though...  
> title is from "oceans" by coasts!

Yuu is rolling down a hill. Well—tumbling, rather, down the side of a ravine. Not on purpose.

His shoulder catches on a stray branch, ripping the clothing and grazing the skin underneath. His face feels unpleasantly warm after an abrupt collision with a lump in the ground and his face, and as he continues to tumble, he spies flashes of red on the ground behind him.

Any attempt to slow himself down is fruitless, as the incline is steep and gravity wins out against Yuu’s fingers and their fervent gripping at the ground he rolls upon.

But, and he sends his thanks to any god out there for this, the ravine is _not_ a cliff, and it eventually slopes more gently as Yuu reaches the bottom. When he finally manages to kill his momentum, he’s lying face up in the grass, his arms outstretched on either side of him. He stares up at the branches of the trees that loom above him, tall and sturdy from hundreds of years of untampered growth. He marvels at the fact he didn’t collide with a trunk before he pushes himself to sit up, leaning his weight back on his palms.

Blood drips from his nose onto the front of his shirt, and he’d mostly forgotten about that in the fall, but he is surely reminded when he distinctly tastes iron. He grunts out a swear before tearing the rest of the sleeve that had been ripped by the branch off, wadding the cloth and holding it to his face.

It’s okay, the torn clothing. Asahi will surely take care of it for him when he gets back. The more pressing issue at this time, added to the fact that he lost grip of his bow and quiver on the way down, is getting _out_ of the ravine. He’s relatively uninjured, but the steepness of the side of the ravine is daunting.

But—not too daunting. (Nothing’s _too_ daunting.) After another moment of sitting, catching his breath and reorienting himself, Yuu pushes up onto his feet. He staggers for a second, but regains his balance and takes the torn cloth away from his face, stuffing it into the hem of his pants.

“Nishinoya!”

He hears the call of his name faintly, from somewhere not too far off, but from somewhere definitely _outside_ of this ravine.

“Nishinoya…!”

It’s a little embarrassing, maybe, to be caught in a predicament like this, but Yuu can’t say it’s the first time.

“Down here!” he calls up to the voice—which belongs to Narita, he knows—with his hands cupped around the sides of his mouth.

He hears laughter in response.

“You dumbass!” Another voice shouts—it’s Kinoshita. And, well, okay. He deserved that.

( _Maybe_ he should have been looking where he was going while he was dashing through the forest, but he was a little frustrated that he hadn’t yet caught any prey. And it’s not his fault that he thought he knew this place like the back of his hand, and it’s not his fault that he maybe took a wrong turn somewhere. Except that it _definitely_ is.)

“We’re coming!” A much higher voice rings through the trees, which Yuu immediately places as Yachi.

He almost calls out that _it’s okay_ , he doesn’t want any of them to make a similar mistake to his and find themselves all scratched and bruised at the bottom of the ravine. But he suddenly becomes aware of another gash to his leg, and he does feel more than a little woozy, so some support’s probably a good idea. He stumbles over and leans up against a tree, hastily tying the ripped cloth that he had shoved away earlier around the cut on his leg as he waits for his companions. They arrive sooner rather than later.

When they approach, Yuu notices that Ennoshita bears an extra bow and Yachi carries an extra quiver. Upon sight of Yuu, Tanaka passes his equipment off to Kinoshita. Yuu offers the group a bemused look.

“We found your stuff. And you look a bit rough, so I’m carrying you,” Tanaka explains, and Yuu snorts.

“Like hell you are. I’m fine.”

“He’s carrying you,” Ennoshita reiterates, and Yuu groans but complies, letting Tanaka haul him up onto his back.

“Magic touch,” Kinoshita says under his breath to Ennoshita, elbowing him in the side.

Ennoshita shrugs. “If it works, it works,” he says back, “I won’t wonder why.”

(And neither he or Tanaka will admit that immense respect is undoubtedly their reason for their immediate compliance to their friend, but that one time when they were young and Ennoshita took down that wild panther about to pounce on them with one arrow was _really badass_.)

“We sent Kazuhito back with the catches,” Ennoshita says, then, as they begin their way up the slope of the ravine. “I don’t suppose you got anything?”

“I was in pursuit,” Yuu grumbles, setting his chin on Tanaka’s shoulder.

“Mhm,” Kinoshita hums, obviously not convinced. Yuu shoots him a glare. “Luckily for you,” he continues, “the rest of us had a pretty good day.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah!” Yachi chimes, hopping a little as the quivers on her back had started to fall down. “It’s definitely enough to feed the village for a day or two.”

“At least,” Ennoshita comments.

Yuu hums his acknowledgement, and the group falls into a comfortable silence. Twigs crack and leaves rustle beneath their feet as they trudge up the incline, and luckily, no one slips their way back down to the bottom.

Tanaka insists on carrying Yuu even after they’re out of the ravine, despite his complaints. He’s _really_ not hurt that bad; a few gashes and a now-ceased bloody nose are quite minor on Yuu’s personal list of injuries.

He at least convinces Tanaka to put him down when they reach the edge of the village, if only to not worry any of the other villagers over Yuu’s condition. And they do pass quite a few that give Yuu worried looks just at his rustled appearance, but that’s something Yuu cherishes about this place—nothing truly terrible can happen to him while he has all these people around him that would be at his side immediately at the whiff of danger.

The group’s journey comes to an end at the doorstep of the local medic’s house, where Yuu’s companions drop him off. They are adamant about him going inside and getting properly treated—he can’t run the risk of getting an infection if he wants to be out on the hunt again anytime soon—and so he knocks upon Akaashi’s door.

Akaashi Keiji learned medicine and treatment from his mother, who’d learned it from her own mother, who’d learned it from her father, and so on. For as long as Yuu can remember and further back from that, if there was an injury in town, the place to go was the Akaashis.

Through the door, Yuu can hear Akaashi speaking with someone.

“That’s the door,” he says to them, “so I probably have an _actual_ injury to treat, now.”

“But, Ak _aashi_ —” Yuu immediately recognizes the someone as Bokuto.

“Bokuto-san,” Akaashi starts, “You have a sliver. So sit tight, I’m getting the door.”

The door promptly opens.

After a brief scan over Yuu’s appearance, Akaashi makes a sweeping gesture. “Come in.”

Yuu hasn’t had time to see his reflection, but he’s sure his face is smeared with blood from his nose. His clothing is stained red and ripped in several places, which isn’t a job for Akaashi, but the cuts and grazes underneath draw his attention.

Before long, Yuu sits in a chair in Akaashi’s living room, and Akaashi sizes up his injuries. As Yuu had thought, they’re nothing serious. Akaashi takes to a cloth and alcohol to clean them, and while he does, Bokuto follows his earlier order and sits tight.

He’s quite intent in staring at his palm, and Yuu figures that must be where the sliver is. Akaashi will surely take care of it after Yuu’s treated, though Yuu has no doubt that Bokuto could have easily taken care of it himself. Bokuto is quite transparent when it comes to—well, _everything_. Just especially when it comes to Akaashi.

Yuu winces when Akaashi presses the alcohol-soaked cloth to the graze he didn’t know he had on his forehead, so Akaashi murmurs out a quick apology, but presses to the wound once again. Injuries on his face always seem to cause him more grief, Yuu’s come to know. Maybe he’s built up a sort of immunity to pain on the rest of his body.

“Asahi-san has his work cut out for him,” Akaashi comments as he carefully unwraps Yuu’s haphazard attempt to cover the gash on his leg.

Yuu lets out a bit of a laugh and a “you’re right” in response.

The formerly clean cloth that Akaashi uses changes from its prior baby blue to a reddish-brown, mucky shade. But after a soak in cold water, all the things that Yuu tainted today—the cloth, his own clothes, and probably Tanaka’s as well—will be just fine. Asahi had taught him that trick, and it’s certainly come in handy.

And it’s not terribly long before Yuu’s minor wounds are all cleaned and properly dressed, and he wishes Akaashi and Bokuto goodbye before he heads off to his next destination.

He stops home on the way to Asahi’s to change his clothes, so that he can hand his ripped ones over. All of his clothes, though, are riddled with careful stitches and mismatched patches. This newest development will only add a few more patches to the wide assortment.

“Asahi- _sa—an_ ,” Yuu drawls as he steps into Asahi’s workplace, a little tailor shack that connects the spaces between the Azumane and the Shimizu dwellings. “I fell off a cliff today.”

Asahi looks up from his work, and his clean, beige shirt with cross ties just over his upper chest and clavicles is quite a contrast from the mess of clothing Yuu has in tow. “A cliff—? Surely you didn’t…”

Yuu laughs, flopping down into a seat in front of a table where Asahi works, though he set down the needle he was working with when Yuu entered. “Maybe not a cliff,” he admits. “But I did fall down a ravine.” He holds his torn and bloodied clothes out to Asahi. “I’m surprised no one told you?”

Asahi takes the clothes into his own hands and assesses the damage. “Yachi did mention that you’d come by sometime,” he says, sliding the piece of cloth he’d been working on prior to the side so he can spread Yuu’s shirt flat across the table.

“And I’m here!” Yuu exclaims, “Yachi must be psychic.”

Asahi lets out a bit of soft laughter, which only makes Yuu’s smile grow bigger. Asahi’s expression quickly falls, though, he mouth pressing into a line as he chews slightly at his bottom lip.

“You should really be more careful, you know,” he says eventually, lining up a new patch of cloth with a hole in Yuu’s shirt. He doesn’t bother to find a matching patch—he knows Yuu couldn’t care less, and he’ll probably rip it again within a week. “This is the third time this week that you’ve gotten hurt.”

“Careful’s for losers, Asahi-san.”

“Be a loser then.”

Kiyoko lets out a bit of a chuckle from where she sits off to the side, working on her own sewing. Yuu’s gaze snaps over to her, as he hadn’t noticed her presence earlier.

“And how are you, Kiyoko-san?” he asks, and she lifts her attention from the garment she’s working on.

“I’m doing well,” she answers, “I may’ve poked myself with a needle a few times, but I’m in better shape than you are.”

“Harsh,” Yuu pouts, his eyes drifting back to Asahi, watching as he sews a patch in place. “I’m not even that bad. It’s just a few cuts.”

“A few cuts and a few pieces of absolutely mangled clothing,” Asahi murmurs, almost under his breath but not quite.

Yuu narrows his eyes at Asahi. “I’m sure Kiyoko-san would fix my clothes without whining,” he says.

“I would not,” Kiyoko responds.

Yuu huffs, crossing his arms over his chest. His stomach suddenly growls, which draws Asahi’s gaze up from Yuu’s clothes and to Yuu himself.

“You haven’t eaten, have you?”

Yuu shifts his weight from one leg to the other. “Not since breakfast.”

“Go get something,” Asahi commands lightly, dismissing Yuu with the flick of his wrist. “I heard that you all brought in quite the load today.”

“You heard about our catches but not that I fell off a cliff?!”

Asahi hums, contemplative. “Maybe I have selective hearing.”

Yuu just laughs and makes his way out of the tailor premises, heading back towards his home.

A few of his friends are already there when he arrives, an array of food spread across his table.

“I see you’ve all made yourselves at home,” Yuu says as he slides into the seat beside Tanaka, reaching to grab some food and put it on his plate.

“We told Hinata that you were hurt, so he gave us extra food,” Ennoshita says in lieu of a response, and Yuu cracks a smile.

“I love that kid,” he says, despite the fact Hinata’s only a year or two younger than he.

He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until his stomach proclaimed such at Asahi’s, so now he shovels the food his friends had picked up for him into his mouth at a rapid pace. Narita watches him with a slightly unnerved look on his face, and his eyebrow twitches when Yuu swallows. He looks like he wants to tell Yuu to slow down, but he knows it’s no use.

“You should rest up tomorrow,” Tanaka suggests from beside Yuu, and he turns his face away, likely because he knows the response he’ll get.

And, well, he’s very much right to. Yuu speaks immediately, disregarding the food half chewed in his mouth, “I’m not even hurt!” (Though it sounds more like _I’m naw effen hurth!)_

Kinoshita looks pointedly at the bandaging that litters Yuu’s body, but doesn’t say a word. The others follow suit, and Yuu squirms under their scrutiny.

“Fine,” he reluctantly gives. “One day. I’ll rest for _one_ day.”

—

Yuu’s resting day brings him to Sugawara’s house, which he shares with Tsukishima and Kenma. The three of them share a house for accessibility purposes, because there’s certainly a shortage of technological supplies nowadays, and they’re the only ones in town who have a head on their shoulders when it comes to that kind of thing. They live in one of the only buildings in town left over from past times, one that hadn’t crumbled to rubble like the rest of them.

And, well, since technology is pretty _fragile_ , and Yuu isn’t quite a _fragile_ person, the majority of them don’t enjoy when Yuu comes to visit. It’s not like he goes out of his _way_ to break things, but when they just leave their stuff lying around on the floor, it’s exceedingly difficult for Yuu to always watch his step. Sugawara is the minority, but he’s also the oldest of the three, so whatever he says goes. Thus, Yuu’s allowed inside despite the incessant disapproval of Tsukishima and Kenma.

He knocks on the door, and hears a light “Come in!” from the inside. He does, and he begins to slip his shoes off but Sugawara swings around the corner before he can.

“Don’t take off your shoes,” Sugawara says, glancing down at his own feet, which are clad in a heavy, old pair of boots. The shoes match oddly with the rest of his attire, which consists solely of a long, flowy t-shirt with large pockets embroidered on the sides, weighed down by the wide assortment of objects Sugawara has stuffed in them. The long shirt serves dually as a dress, so Sugawara isn’t wearing pants. It’s usual, besides the heavy boots on his feet. “Kenma dropped a lightbulb.”

Yuu blinks, and then proceeds into the house behind Sugawara, the thick heels of his shoes causing soft thuds against the floor underneath. Sugawara doesn't say anything about Yuu's appearance, surely because he's already heard about Yuu's mishap from someone—likely Asahi—and because he knows that Yuu would rather just pretend he doesn't have bandages wrapped all over his body. Yuu appreciates the practiced ignorance.

“Nishinoya’s here,” Sugawara says as they enter the trio’s living room, but as Yuu’s come to expect, he receives minimal acknowledgement from the both of them. They seem enthralled by their current tasks, anyway.

A piece of glass crunches under the sole of Yuu’s shoe, and he’s suddenly glad Sugawara had warned him. This draws his gaze over to Kenma, however, who’s sitting on the floor, surrounded by two piles of old lightbulbs. He tinkers with the one in his hands and some wires, undoubtedly trying to get one to light. From the looks of it, he hasn’t succeeded yet, and the dud lightbulb pile grows.

“Hinata found all those,” Sugawara comments, nodding towards Kenma’s pile of lightbulbs. Half of them are already shattered, but Kenma tries them out nonetheless.

Yuu nods in response, but his attention is grabbed by a continuous soft clicking he can hear coming from Tsukishima's direction.

Tsukishima sits beside a large machine, and his hand rests on what looks to be a small golden lever. He presses down on it rhythmically, as if a pattern or code to be cracked. Yuu watches him with childlike curiosity, but knows better than to ask him what he’s doing.

Sugawara notices, anyway, and takes it upon himself to explain. He starts, “Have you ever heard of Morse code?”

He, in fact, has never. But as it turns out, Tsukishima had managed to hook up an old machine, and by some kind of miracle, Sugawara says, an electricity line survived from past times, and Tsukishima’s now communicating with someone several villages away.

“Yamaguchi’s his name,” Sugawara says in a hushed tone, as though Tsukishima would be mad if he found out Yuu was being informed of this.

And truthfully, Yuu less so cares about the person’s name, and more so cares about the fact that Tsukishima is talking to someone from somewhere _else_. Logically, the villagers know that there are other people out there, cultivating the land and rebuilding society in similar ways that they are. But they’ve never come across any, save for stray travelers that only stay a night and then proceed on their quest to nowhere. The fact that Tsukishima’s holding a conversation with someone far away—never mind the fact that Morse code sounds so _inconvenient_ , from Sugawara’s brief explanation—makes that fact seem far more real. It makes other people feel far more attainable.

“That’s really cool,” Yuu says instead of all the things he’d been thinking, and Sugawara chuckles a little in response.

“It is,” he agrees, and before he can offer Yuu any food or a place to sit, there’s another knock at the door.

Sugawara holds up a finger— _one moment_ —before he rushes down the hallway again to get the door. Yuu’s insatiable curiosity causes him to follow Sugawara down the hall.

Tanaka’s there when the door swings open, and his face bears a large, bright grin. “Yacchan got her first big one!” he exclaims to the pair in the threshold, and Yuu’s face lights up in response.

“Really!?” he asks, hopping excitedly.

“They’re bringing it into town now,” Tanaka says, gesturing emphatically for Yuu to follow him and meet up with them.

After a brief goodbye to a smiling Sugawara, Yuu runs through town behind Tanaka, and surely enough, the other four of their hunting group all work together to tow a giant buck. Yuu’s eyes widen and he runs over to congratulate Yachi, and she flusters under the praise.

—

Yachi’s catch, after being dragged to Kageyama and Hinata, manages to feed the entire village. As celebration, Yuu and Tanaka worked to round up most of the villagers to come eat dinner together around a bonfire.

The cooks had made a venison broth, and the villagers around the fire lounge and drink the soup out of makeshift wooden bowls. Yachi’s received probably enough celebratory head pats to last a lifetime, but that doesn’t stop Asahi from walking over and giving her another, before he sits down on an old log next to Yuu. 

Yuu opens his mouth to thank Asahi for dropping off his newly repaired clothes at his house earlier, when he'd been out, but Asahi beats him to talking. 

“This is exciting,” Asahi comments, transferring his bowl from one hand to the other before taking a drink of it. His eyes scan over the array of people around them, chattering happily and enjoying their food and the warmth of the fire. 

Yuu nods, “I just wish I could’ve been there when she got it.”

“Knowing you,” Asahi says, playful smile tugging at his lips, “You would’ve scared it away before Yachi even had the chance to shoot it.”

Yuu pouts, crossing his arms over his chest. “You don’t know me at all,” he grumbles, which causes Asahi to laugh.

“I’m just saying, maybe it’s not a coincidence that this happened the day you weren’t there.”

“So mean, Asahi-san. So mean.”

Asahi chuckles again against the lip of his bowl, and Yuu’s eyes trail after Yachi, who’s left their group to go over and sit near Kiyoko. Kiyoko lights up as Yachi approaches, and by the way Yachi flushes from the tips of her ears and down, Yuu can tell that Kiyoko must’ve complimented her.

“You’ll have to come out with me sometime,” Yuu says suddenly, causing Asahi to curiously tilt his head.

“Hmm?”

“Hunting. You’ll have to come with me to see how good I actually am, before you slander my name like that again.”

Asahi blinks at him, and then smiles. “Sure.”   


	2. Chapter 2

On the night of the full moon, two travelers show up in town. It’s incredibly windy when they arrive, and they’re both clad in tattered cloth, hoods up over their heads and drawstrings pulled taut. The village appears as a ghost town, as all the residents have taken to the indoors to escape the windstorm.

Yuu’s naturally curious, and as always, he lacks tact, so he’s the first to approach the hooded figures, standing his ground proudly even if the wind is almost strong enough to knock him off his feet.

He has to yell over the roaring wind: “Hey! Who are you?”

Sugawara stands just a step behind Yuu, probably to make sure he doesn’t do anything too rash, and he bristles against the powerful gusts. The two of them are the only ones out in the entire village, but countless watch from their windows and doorways. Just a little ways away, hidden inside of a building, Daichi and Bokuto stand guard with weapons in case the situation takes a turn for the worst.

(See, Sugawara yields a scar from a deep cut on his right hip from years ago, when a traveler had turned vicious and took Sugawara’s kindness and warped it into a weakness. Despite Sugawara’s incessant demand that he doesn’t need to be protected—that it was a one time incident—Daichi always takes Bokuto with him to guard, _just_ in case.)

When the travelers fully approach Yuu and Sugawara, they attempt to bow, and the wind billows their clothing.

“Kuroo Tetsurou,” one speaks loudly, tugging his clothing closer to his body.

“Yaku Morisuke,” the other follows, and they both still bow. The gale howls overhead.

“Stand up,” Yuu commands.

They follow his instructions, bracing against the harsh air currents.

Sugawara takes a step forward, to match Yuu. “Are you here seeking shelter?”

The one named Kuroo opens his mouth to respond, but Yaku speaks first, “If you’d be so kind.”

Yuu glances skeptically over to Sugawara, but he seems to have already made up his mind.

“Walk ahead of us,” Sugawara commands to the travelers. “We’re headed to that building,” he says, pointing to his own home, where the village often houses travelers. (Daichi will insist on staying the night, Yuu is sure.)

The travelers comply easily, making their way to Sugawara’s shared home. The other two inside surely won’t be ecstatic about the visitors, but there’s little they can do to change Sugawara’s mind and kick the travelers back out into the cold.

“Suga-san,” Yuu speaks as lowly as he can against the wind, “Are you sure about this?”

Sugawara doesn’t look down at Yuu as he responds: “I’ll speak with them more once we’re inside.” The _yelling against the wind is hardly productive, don’t you think?_ is mostly implied.

Trusting Sugawara’s judgement, Yuu follows him and the travelers into his home, kicking off his shoes at the entrance. The travelers remove their hoods, and they each let out a deep sigh at the warmth of the building. (Sugawara has a knack with heaters. If Yuu’s being honest, it’s like somewhat of a miracle. Except it’s _not_ a miracle, it’s just that Sugawara is really intelligent and compassionate and puts the traits to good use.)

The travelers are not allowed in past the entrance, at least not until Sugawara has whittled sufficient information out of them. He asks basic questions, like _Where are you from?_ and _How long do you plan to stay?_

There isn’t a solid answer for either of those questions. The travelers actually seem to lack solid answers for any basic questions, but as Yuu grows more skeptical, Sugawara grows more kind. When he’s finally allowed the travelers inside to “make themselves at home,” Yuu shoots Sugawara a confused scowl.

Sugawara laughs at his expression. “When travelers answer like that,” he says, “it means that they’re not weaving extravagant lies. There is more good out in this world than evil, Nishinoya. Trust me.”

Yuu gapes at how Sugawara can remain so calm and empathetic even with a grizzly pink scar spanning the length of his hip. He doesn’t know that there’s a possibility of him _not_ ever trusting Sugawara.

As Yuu turns to proceed into the house, Sugawara opens the door to greet Daichi, who had probably been standing outside, just waiting for the door to open. It’s some sort of routine.

Yuu is pleasantly surprised to see Asahi in the kitchen, and he pulls himself up to sit on the table. Kenma apparently hadn’t gotten any light bulbs to work since Yuu’s last visit, as the gentle orange light that emits from the heater is the only thing illuminating the room.

“Asahi-san!” he exclaims, and Asahi jumps, since he’d had his back to Yuu. “What’re you doing here?”

“I figured Suga would want some help with the travelers,” Asahi answers, and Yuu notices the half-peeled potato he holds in one hand and knife in the other.

Yuu hums his response, kicking his legs from where he sits on the table. Sugawara will scold him if he sees, but he’s probably pretty preoccupied at the moment.

“How have you been today?” Asahi asks, then, turning back to peeling the potato, “I haven’t seen you yet.”

“Pretty bored, being cooped up in a house all day,” Yuu says, “I hope this wind dies down by tomorrow.”

“Stir crazy after one day, huh,” Asahi comments, setting the now fully-peeled potato down amongst a small collection of other vegetables. “Do you want to help?”

Yuu hops off of the table at the question.

“Whatcha need?” he chirps, standing on his tiptoes to set his hands on Asahi’s shoulders and peer over him. Before Asahi sits an assortment of vegetables and an old metal pot.

“I already peeled the carrots,” Asahi says, “but they need to be chopped.”

Yuu hums in acknowledgment before he gets to work.

—

The travelers appreciate the warm food. The biting red that had painted their faces before as a result of bearing the wind has subsided into that of a healthier, fuller flush as the steam from their soup bowls rises up to their faces.

Sugawara’s living room isn’t quite big enough to fit the lot of them, but, somehow, they make it work. Daichi sits on the couch beside Kuroo, and Sugawara sits on the floor in front of him, his back pressed to the couch between Daichi’s legs. Yaku sits on Kuroo’s other side, and Asahi occupies an armchair, while Yuu balances himself on the armrest of it. Tsukishima has retreated to another room, though surprisingly, Kenma hasn’t. He sits criss-cross on the floor, idly messing with his ever-dwindling pile of lightbulbs.

Yuu finds himself drifting in and out of paying attention to what the travelers have to say—they both speak of life before the Downfall, of great machinery and giant buildings that looked like they touched the stars, of lights that never burnt out—but none of it is anything Yuu hasn’t heard before. His late father was obsessed with the past times, used to tell Yuu bedtime stories about airplanes and times when there were grocery stores, entire _buildings_ full of food.

“Hey, Asahi-san,” Yuu leans over slightly to whisper in Asahi’s ear. “Don’t you think that the past times sound kind of boring? I mean, they could just go and _get_ food from a building.”

Asahi covers his mouth to muffle a slight laugh. “Quiet,” he says to Yuu.

Satisfied with the response, Yuu obliges to Asahi’s request. He decides to listen to the travelers again, and Yaku’s speaking.

“The wind probably won’t die down anytime soon,” he says. Yuu fails to suppress a groan.

“There’s a storm coming from the east,” Kuroo continues, and everyone’s mouths pull into frowns.

Storms are violent, they wreak havoc relentlessly and can howl on for days. It’s not particularly surprising that a windstorm of this caliber would bring a thicker storm along with it.

“I’d give it a few days before it hits,” Yaku says, pressing his index finger to his cheek. “I don’t mean to be intrusive, but I hope you won’t mind us staying until the storm passes…”

“Of course we don’t mind,” Sugawara assures.

During the course of the night, Kenma gives up his light bulbs in favor of conversing quietly with Kuroo; Yaku, Sugawara, and Daichi get out a deck of cards; and Asahi and Yuu lean up against each other to face the wind as they walk each other home.

—

Despite the wind, the residents of the village still need to eat. And so, wrapped in tight clothing and equipped with their bows and quivers, Yuu’s hunting team sets out.

Ennoshita takes Kinoshita and Narita with him in the opposite direction of Yuu, Tanaka, and Yachi, and Tanaka keeps close to Yachi, grabbing onto her any time there’s a particularly hard gust of wind, so she won’t somehow be blown away and lost forever. (He’d actually grabbed onto Yuu a few times, too.)

The wind is cold, biting at any of Yuu’s exposed skin. Leaves break off of trees and, propelled violently downward, slap the hunters repeatedly. They take hasty shelter behind a wide trunked tree, huddled together.

“This seems counterproductive,” Yachi comments, speaking loudly to be heard over the howling wind. “Animals usually know when it’s going to storm and stay away,” she continues. “Don’t you think we should head back?”

“Yaku-san said that the storm wouldn’t hit for a few days just last night,” Yuu replies. “It can’t be here already.”

“I think Yacchan has a point,” Tanaka says, bracing himself against the tree. “We won’t have any luck out here like this.”

Yuu, resilient as always, pulls his mouth into a frown. “You two can head back,” he says, “I’m going to stay out for awhile longer.”

Yachi worries her bottom lip between her teeth.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Tanaka denies, “We should all head back together. I’m sure there’s enough food back home to feed everyone until the wind dies down.”

“I’m not going back,” Yuu insists, “I’ll be fine out here alone, and we haven’t caught anything yet.”

As Tanaka opens his mouth to respond, a crack of thunder whips over their heads. The leaves seem to shiver more violently up in the trees.

“Let’s go,” Yachi says, her eyes wide and frightened. Tanaka takes a hand off of the tree to set it on her shoulder.

“You guys go,” Yuu says, tightening his grip on the bow in his hands. “I’ll only be out for a little while longer. If it starts to rain, I’ll head right back. Okay?”

Tanaka furrows his eyebrows, but reluctantly nods at him. “Be careful,” he says with a firm squeeze to his shoulder before they depart. They disappear into the thickness of the trees, and Yuu turns on his heel, bracing himself as he steps out from behind the tree trunk.

Suddenly, though, the wind dies. Yuu lets his shoulders drop, and takes a moment to orientate himself. _Calm before the storm_ , he thinks, grateful for it. It’s a perfect chance to catch something and head back before the storm really hits.

He stalks through the trees, senses sharpened for exactly this task, eyes flickering around the trees and ears catching every rustle in the eerie quiet of the forest.

Yuu doesn’t know how long he’s really been out before he finally spots a boar, snorting and rummaging in some briary. He resists the urge to cry out victoriously, instead poising the bow before him and slipping an arrow out from his quiver. He aims carefully, holding is breath to keep absolutely steady. The boar remains completely unaware of him. 

As he releases the arrow, a crack of thunder sounds and the boar startles. The arrow zips through the air quicker than the boar can move, though, and it sinks into the animal’s neck. Yuu quickly approaches the struggling boar, taking a knife out from where he’d had it tucked against his waist, and he slits the boar’s throat to end its life quickly.

“Thank you,” he says to the boar, stroking his hand across its side.

Another bout of thunder sounds dangerously above Yuu’s head, and he makes haste to heave the lifeless boar over his shoulder and start on his way back to the village with the catch.

He’s only made it a few steps when the wind picks up again, this time with stinging raindrops and an enhanced ferocity. Yuu swears under his breath and attempts to pick up his pace, but the rain burns coldly as it whips against Yuu’s face and blurs his vision.

One gust of wind knocks Yuu off of his feet, sending him tumbling backwards into the base of a tree. He hits his head on the tree's trunk, and the boar lands harshly on the ground a way away. Vaguely, Yuu has an urge to apologize to the dead animal.

But his vision is blackening, and all he can think to do is stand and head back to the village on his own. This plan doesn’t fare well with the storm or Yuu’s recently acquired head injury, which both cause him to slump back to the ground a moment after he stands.

Yuu swallows thickly, again trying to stand. His movements are panicked, filled with a sort of desperate need to get home. He _has_ to get home. He’ll be fine, of course he’ll be _fine_ , as long as he keeps moving forward…

The wind blows a branch off of a tree, and Yuu watches in blind horror as it crashes down atop one of his legs. He pushes it off of himself, ignoring the burning pain in his leg as he pulls his bottom lip so harshly between his teeth that he tastes iron.

In a last ditch effort, Yuu drags himself and the branch towards the base of a tree and attempts to hastily splint his leg. It’s no use, though, the wind is too strong and the rain is too cold and Yuu can hardly see through the black spots in his vision…

Sleep comes more easily than anything else.   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> blame noah for this chapter ending lol


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, shoving this trash at you: TAKE IT

Yuu wakes as he’s being hoisted up onto someone’s back, light seeping through the branches of trees above them and droplets dripping off of the leaves, pattering down on the forest floor.

His ears ring, and it takes him a few moments to realize that there are people around—people talking, murmuring in low, careful voices. The first he recognizes is Hinata, his bright orange hair undoubtedly recognizable even when matted as it is now. A second later, he realizes he’s being piggybacked by Asahi. Yuu sets his chin on Asahi’s shoulder, lets his eyes drift shut again. It’s no use to be awake when people’s voices just sound like a swarm of bees.

Everything aches, though, so sleep is not the most attainable option. Yuu’s leg and head both throb with a dull pain, numbed only by the cold that Yuu feels, bone deep. His clothes are sopping, the sheer wetness of them the same intensity as if he’d just jumped into a river.

Out of the buzzing, Yuu vaguely makes out Akaashi’s name, and figures it’s safe to assume that’s where he’s being taken.

Asahi’s probably uncomfortable, with a soaked Yuu pressed up against his back, but that’s just a fleeting thought. Yuu doesn’t quite have the mind capacity for anything other than fleeting thoughts. The last thought he has before he passes out again is that he’s just thankful he didn’t die by something lame like an animal finding him while unconscious.

—

The next time Yuu comes to feels marginally different. It’s dark in this room, blinds drawn over the windows. He’s warm, covered by a few blankets that must’ve been draped over him while he was out, and initially, he doesn’t quite know where he is or why.

That is, until he tries to move. A sharp pain shoots through his head as he attempts to sit up, and as he lifts a hand to press to his head, he notices the bandaging that litters his skin.

The past day—Yuu _thinks_ it was yesterday, at least—comes back to him in bits and pieces. He remembers the boar, remembers the storm. After that, it’s mostly foggy.

Oh, right. He also hit his head. At least that much makes some sense to him, at this point. And by everything he’s pieced together by now, he figures he’s at Akaashi’s.

Yuu doesn’t try moving again, as his head still throbs painfully every time he blinks, so he just stares at the ceiling, fingers intertwining over his stomach.

Akaashi enters after an indiscernible amount of time, cracks open the door and peeks his head in, only to fully step into the room after he notes that Yuu is awake.

“You’re up,” he comments.

Yuu only coughs. His throat is beyond hoarse.

“It’s been three days since Hinata found you and his party brought you here,” Akaashi says, approaching the bed where Yuu lies. He holds his hands in front of him, fingers entwined. “You cracked your head open pretty well,” he continues as Yuu just stares up at him. “and you dislocated your knee cap. Otherwise, just cuts and scrapes.”

Yuu tries to nod, but stops after one movement of his head and winces.

“All you can really do to heal is rest,” Akaashi says, mouth pulling into a tight frown. “I have limited medical supplies, you know, and pain relievers are not the easiest to come by. I’ve gathered what I have, but it isn’t much. I can brew the supplies into a tea for you, but I’ll warn that it’s gonna be a pretty nasty tea.”

Swallowing thickly, Yuu attempts to croak out an “okay.”

Akaashi smiles sympathetically down at him before turning back out of the room, presumably to brew the tea.

In the minutes before Akaashi returns, Yuu mostly just scolds himself for getting caught up in the storm. If only he’d just listened to Tanaka and Yachi, he’d be fine. If only he’d not been such an impulsive idiot, he’d be fine. Instead, though—his injured leg and concussion speak for him.

He gives up on scolding himself, though. He’s sure he’ll get enough of that from his friends. He won’t mind, though. They care about him, that’s all it means. They worry.

Akaashi knocks twice at the door to establish his presence before he steps back in, cup in one hand and bowl in the other. He sets them down on a table beside the bed so that he can help Yuu sit up.

“Kageyama made it clear that I should tell you he made this, and not Hinata,” Akaashi refers to the food he’d brought, small grin pulling at his lips, “So it should be really good. His words.”

Yuu snorts out a sort of laugh but winces as Akaashi places a hand between his shoulder blades and another on one of his shoulders, helping to hoist him upwards. It’s a painful process, but once Yuu is up, he feels much better.

Akaashi moves the table so Yuu can reach it more easily, and as soon as Yuu wraps his bandaged hands around the cup of tea, there’s another soft knock at the door.

Yuu half expects Bokuto, so he’s surprised when Akaashi opens the door to reveal Asahi. He had pulled his bottom lip between his teeth, but when he sees Yuu, he lets it free and his shoulders slump in relief.

“I heard you woke up,” Asahi says to him, and Akaashi slips out of the door as Asahi steps in. “So, I… I had to come. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Yuu takes a quick swig of the tea, and it burns as it goes down his throat, but it’s strangely soothing. He pats the bed next to him, signalling for Asahi to sit.

Asahi takes the cue, and the mattress dips when he sits on it. Yuu lets himself lean until he rests against Asahi’s shoulder, and he takes another drink of the tea.

He clears his throat before he says, “What’d I miss?”

Asahi clicks his tongue. “Mostly storm repair,” he starts. “One of the windows on Suga’s house shattered, and Bokuto and Daichi have been working pretty hard on the crops, since the fields flooded. It’s been a mess, but we’re… We’re okay, like always.”

Yuu nods, his chest swelling at Asahi’s last words. It’s true— _like always_. Hardships are not few and far between in this day and age, but still, regardless of everything, they persist.

“Everyone’s been worried about you, you know.”

“I was stupid,” Yuu replies.

Asahi chuckles. “Yeah, you were. We’re getting used to it, by now. Still—we’ve been worried. I’ll—We’ll always worry. Maybe someday you’ll listen to me when I tell you to be careful.”

Yuu hides his expression in his cup of tea, finishing it off. He makes grabby hands for the soup Akaashi had brought, and Asahi leans over to get it for him.

After he presses it into Yuu’s hands, he says, “Kuroo and Yaku also left, as soon as the storm cleared up. And Hinata and Kageyama got into a fight about who could prepare better venison, so they had Shimizu and I be taste testers.”

“Who won?” Yuu asks just before spooning some of the soup into his mouth.

“I couldn’t pick.”

Yuu lets out a laugh. “That’s very _you_ , Asahi-san.”

—

Crutches, Yuu learns intimately, are awful and terrible hindrances. But still, Akaashi insists he use them, especially after he caught Yuu walking around without them for the third time.

“You’ll never heal properly if you don’t keep your weight off of it,” he says, and Yuu sighs.

“They hurt my armpits,” he replies.

“Toughen up,” Akaashi deadpans, shoving the crutches back into Yuu’s hands.

Yuu sticks his tongue out at Akaashi, but takes the crutches nonetheless. Akaashi shakes his head at him, before sending him out the door.

See, it’s the first day that Yuu’s permitted to go to his own home. He just has to use the crutches to get there, now.

It’s a struggle, a bit of a journey to get home, but he does eventually make it to find his friends again sitting around his table, food spread out before them.

He’s greeted with cacophony, his friends’ voices all competing to be louder than the others. And as they jump up to hug him—Tanaka reaching him first—they’re all careful of his injuries, not wanting to hurt him more.

But after the initial greeting, Yuu takes his seat at the table, and everything’s almost back to normal. Ennoshita watches, amused, as Kinoshita and Tanaka bicker and as Yachi tries to get them to stop. Narita converses with Sugawara, both of them smiling and laughing. Asahi fixes himself a plate of food.

Yuu looks around at all of them. He tries not to think about how he almost lost all of this—how he almost was never able to experience this ever again. But it’s really hard. He gets hurt often, sure. It’s just not everyday that he nearly _dies_. He’s still shaken up from it.

“Are you going to eat?” Asahi asks from across the table, his head tilting. His expression is soft, caring. Very _Asahi-san_.

Yuu blinks at him, torn from his thoughts. “Mm, yeah,” he answers, shaking his head slightly before he fixes himself a plate.

While he’s eating, he takes everything around him in again. He’s beyond glad that he’s not missing it.

—

When he’s not able to run around like usual, Yuu gets bored insanely easily. It was Tsukishima’s idea, actually, for Asahi to teach Yuu how to sew, to keep his hands occupied. (And maybe Tsukishima was just sick of Yuu popping into his house and screwing around with all their things, but Yuu will just think that, for once, he’s being kind.)

“I promise I’ll teach you how to use a bow and arrow when I get better,” Yuu insists one day. Yuu’s actually a pretty quick learner, and his fingers are nimble. Asahi had only looked a little bit surprised at the revelation.

“You will, huh…” Asahi replies, mostly focused on his own work now that Yuu can functionally sew on his own.

“Mhm,” he confirms, and then hisses when he pokes himself in the finger. Shimizu chuckles softly from across the room. He’s poked himself an uncountable amount of times since he’s started.

It’s very quiet in the tailor shop, though. The atmosphere is very calm. Yuu wonders if that will help him heal faster, spending so much time here. Added to this, when Asahi’s not busy, he’s made it a habit to play with Yuu’s hair.

(“You’re getting kinda scruffy, aren’t you?”

“Asahi-san, I don’t think you have the right to say that to me.”

“Well—!”)

It’s relaxing, anyway. As far as Yuu’s concerned, he _feels_ like it helps him heal faster.

—

Everyone in town cares about him so much, about his health and well being. He knew that before the accident, but now it’s just reiterated. People visit him in the tailor shop often, ruffling his hair and telling him they’re glad he’s okay. His hunting team always makes sure to come in after they’ve returned from the hunt to tell him what they’d caught that day.

That doesn’t mean, though, that he’s not eager to get better. Because as soon as Akaashi deams him well enough to get off of his crutches, he’s practically begging to go out hunting again. He’s been out of commission for a couple weeks when Akaashi grants him permission to go out, and the first thing he does after he grabs his bow and quiver is head to the tailor shop.

“Asahi-san!” he calls into the shop, “We’re going hunting!”

“I’m not sure I’ll be very good—”

“You are coming with me,” Yuu insists, grabbing hold of Asahi’s wrist and dragging him along.

They walk together through town until they reach the edge of the forest, where Yuu has to tug Asahi along again.

Yuu will admit that Asahi looks a little awkward with a bow, at first. He arms angle awkwardly and Yuu helps reposition him, helping him relax his shoulders and grabbing his jaw to tilt his head correctly.

And maybe it’s not all Asahi’s fault that he doesn’t do so well on the bow, because Yuu can’t say he’s the best teacher.

But Asahi’s deep laughter when he shoots an arrow and it completely misses their decided target, instead shooting far too high and skittering off into the trees, makes Yuu think that this entire thing wasn’t a waste of time. It’s probably the equivalent to him pricking himself with a sewing needle, anyway.

—

So maybe Asahi never becomes a pro at hunting, and maybe Yuu never quite learns how to be careful. So maybe Kenma never gets a light bulb to work, and maybe Hinata and Kageyama never decide who the better cook is. So maybe the world will never be like it was a long, long time ago, but maybe no one really wants that.

There are a few things that are certain, though, through everything. Bonds between people, care and love and friendship, don’t break, and humanity always finds a way to persist. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 
> 
> i hope this ending was satisfied enough, because if i didn't find a way to end it with this chapter, i probably never would have gotten around to finishing this. i loved the concept, but my inspiration dwindled over time... anyway! i hope that it was still enjoyable! thanks for reading!


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